Format:
Online-Ressource (406 p.)
,
24 cm
Content:
The Fantasy Bond sets forth a new concept of resistance, demonstrating the relationship between the structure and organization of psychological defenses and the fear of change, individuation, and personal power. This work has broadened the concept of resistance in psychotherapy to include an understanding of a core resistance to a "better life." The problem, according to author Robert Firestone, is that people behave in a way that is motivationally dishonest, reacting perversely to movement in the direction of their stated goals. In other words, they don't really want what they say they want. The concept of a Fantasy Bond is a powerful theoretical construct which unifies neopsychoanalytic and existential frames of reference. The Fantasy Bond originates as an illusion of connection with the mother that is used by the infant to relieve anxiety and emotional pain. Later, it is extended to other individuals, mates, authority figures and other parental substitutes, and destructive bonds are formed which impair the individual's functioning. The book develops the concept of emotional hunger and distinguishes it from parental love with which it is frequently confused. The author analyzes the organization of psychological defenses around the important core defense of the Fantasy Bond and relates this structural process to the basic resistance in psychotherapy. He describes the dimensions of the Fantasy Bond and the secondary defenses that protect this core defense: The idealization of parents and family; the development of a negative or critical view of self; the displacement of negative parental traits onto other objects and the development of a victimized, paranoid orientation to life; the withdrawal into an inward state with accompanying loss of feeling for self; the withholding of affectional responses and capabilities in general; and the involvement with self-nourishing habits and painkillers. The core concepts of this book have been drawn from three diverse populations: the deeply disturbed behavior of regressed schizophrenics; the typical neurotic conflicts of psychotherapy clients; and the everyday behavior of normal, successful people living in a unique psychological community. The fact that similar behavior can be found in such outwardly different populations underscores both the essential similarity of all human beings and the reliability of the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved)
Note:
Includes index. - Bibliography: p. 391-397. - Electronic reproduction; Washington, D.C; American Psychological Association; 2005; Available via the World Wide Web; Access limited by licensing agreement; s2005 dcunns
Language:
English
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